Hi, i thought since deciding which earphones to buy is so difficult, id give a hand by comparing two similarly priced ear canal earphones, the highly popular Sennheiser CX-300's, and the V-Moda Bass freq.

Just to note, i've been using both pairs with a creative ZEN Vision:M, as well as with my computer.

Sennheiser CX300 - £17.99 Amazon

When i first got these buds i was pleasantly surprised at their sleek design and discreteness. The buds them selves are comfortable yet sturdy, which is nice compared to some other very flimsy buds. The buds come in the three sizes and i'm sure will fit anybody's ear. These earphones have the right bud longer than the left, to go around the neck, i personally like this merely due to the fact that when i wrap the wires around my player, the longer one goes round another time holding it all in place
I do have to note a couple gripes however, the one longer side does mean all the weight of the 'phones (the little that there is) is supported upon the left wire, which means especially when walking, the left side gets dragged down.
One other thing, mine stopped working! The left side lost nearly all volume compared to the right and wouldn't work with any device, so reliability doesn't seem too strong.

Anyway, sound....

I have to say, after reading reviews on these with people raving about the bass, i was slightly disappointed. Even if the seal of the buds is just right, there isn't a huge amount of bass, however, with a little fix with the players EQ, you can get some reasonable bass levels, and the bass that is there is very tight and not 'muddy' at all. One thing i have to say is that in a car or train, the bass totally disappears, something to note if thats what you'll need the 'phones for.
On a brighter note, the mids and highs are fantastic, especially with some tweaks in the EQ, you can get superb clarity, and the highs really bring out things like cymbals and voice well.
I'd say these 'phones can prove for a very pleasurable listening experience if in a quite environment, especially for the price.

Con's - Not as much bass as some would like
- Bass is not audible in trains/cars
- Reliability issues

V-Moda bass freq - £19.99 Amazon

When opening the package for these i was also pleasantly surprised at their size, seeing as they looked much bulkier in the picture. However in terms of design i'm not too sure about the silvery bits as they make them look a bit cheap.
The buds them selves are very similar to the CX-300's, comfortable yet sturdy and come in 3 sizes. Another nice feature is that the jack is gold so it will provide a better connection, although i'd much prefer a right angled jack as they tend to last longer. The wires on these don't seem as well made as the CX-300's, but no problems yet. With the moda's, both buds have the same length wires, but its up to you if thats a good thing or not. These also come with the 'modawrap', which is apparently for wrapping up the wires so they don't get tangled, but it doesn't seem much use to me really, as wrapping them round my player works just as well.

Sounds:

Well, 'It does what it says on the tin' in essence, there is much more bass with these than the CX'300's, but again the bass is quite tight. The bass survives better than the 'heisers in the car or train, i think due to the fact that there is simply more of it, and that the seal of the silicon buds is slightly more effective at noise reduction. So overall, a very pleasing bass experience.
However, where i was a bit disappointed was where the CX-300's were best, the mids and highs aren't so great. On flat EQ the highs and high-mids just aren't clear enough and don't bring out voice and cymbals nicely like the CX-300's do. With some EQ tweaks you can improve this, but the highs need boosting quite a lot. With the Moda's, the different parts of the audio seems to jumble up together unlike the CX-300's which is a shame, but saying that, its not bad at delivering the highs, i just wish it was as good as the Sennheisers, because with that coupled with its amazing bass, these would really be excellent all round earphones. It seems as though V-Moda just got all over excited about their bass and forgot about the rest!

Pros - Great bass
- Small and light
- Works well in noisy environments

Cons - Highs and high-mids could do with refining
- Build and design seems a bit cheap

I hope this has helped you in the quest for a nice pair of mid priced earphones. Both these pairs are great, but they excel in different areas, you'd have to choose where you'd like them to most